twist and turns of fate
by atanvarnie
Summary: The fellowship meet up at university. Troubles, strange events, and journeys bring them together.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but I thank Tolkien for these characters **

* * *

Have you ever walked into a room and realised that it is truly haunted, that you will never feel safe in that room again?

Peeling paint, damp ceiling, dirty tiled floors and this is the nice accommodation for the uni campus. The tall ginger boy held his keys poised at the key hole to his new dorm room, what lay beyond a mystery to him. Three years of Economics and English combined studies lay ahead, along with socialising, extracurricular activities, extra reading and then onto a future filled with his father's plans. He lets out a sigh, his shoulders relaxed in the empty hall. Sliding the small but significant metal into his new door, turning it left- then right, a full rotation before the bolt slid from its wooden cage. The door now free to be opened, by a simple push.  
'No going back now I suppose' Boromir breathed reaching for his duffle while leaning into the door, his weight pushing it open to reveal his new home.

A band from downstairs followed closely by a shriek and some loud apologies forced Boromir to simply slide his duffle into his room before turning to head down the stairs. From half way down the best he could see was a student trapped between the two doors, flailing rabidly. From the base of the stairs he realised that what he was seeing was truly a young student trapped between the two entrance doors whilst flailing rabidly.  
"'Scuse me right sir, you'd be helping me through these doors now in service of my cousin.' The short curly haired boy squirmed between the two slakes of wood. "Just this bolts really getting in between me ribs right and proper."  
Boromir went to step forwards, to unbolt the right side door from the floor, in hopes of freeing the strange mocking student. Rambtous laughter came from outside and the face of a second stranger came into view.  
"In a spot of bother already Pip?" He motioned to Boromir, some kind of door unlocking motion. Without further delay Boromir reached to the floor and lifted the bolt there freeing the previously trapped student.  
"Thanking ya mightly gov" he managed a short sentence before a small voice from the kitchen rang out  
"Who's there?" It was small but clear.  
"Tis I Perigrin Took- mighty yet humble" the student and assembly his friend saunted past Boromir, to the kitchen in the back of the house disappearing from view.

"Frodo" The voice jolted in his ear making him stumble slightly as the figure ran into the kitchen. He grabbed on to the counter to steady himself as a tornado wrapped it's self around him. Then a calm presence moved into the kitchen a flash of dark sandy hair always following the storm. His body trapped and too crushed to speak he moved his hand to greet the calm only then with help come.  
"Pippin let Frodo go" with that blesse air can finally return to his lungs.  
"Thank you Merry, wait" he paused to inhaled an even deeper breath "are you high Pippin? Already it's been 10 minutes since you got here."  
"Well there was a dude outside who had the best stuff I've seen from the 20 people offering weed here."  
"The gardener?" Boromir interrupted.  
"No that's Sam," Frodo continued before Boromir could feel embarrassed "He lives here, we have the bottom two rooms. Oh I'm Frodo, This is Merry and Pippin they are my cousin" gesturing to the tornado jumping slightly as though he had a great secret that he couldn't wait to get of his chest. "And Merry the person who I wish was my cousin." His checks turning red as he realised he had said this to a stranger and not part of his internal commentary.  
"Ah" Boromir took pity on him "do you know if the others are here yet?"

"Well" Frodo started his voice noticeably softer then before "one of them is in the room opposite but…" his voice trailed off as, as one they turned to look in the room. The wooden frame held no door but inside held three couches which lay around a long battered table. The dark blue couch held bearded muscles. A man shorter than most but still taller than Frodo and his cousins had his legs stretched out across the table over a studded leather jacket. It was then Merry realised why Frodo did not want to go alone to meet him. The man has a fierce red braided beard coving his face and most of his chest. The black T-shirt just held in bulging muscles, thick arms covered in bands of black runes. Impatient hands tapped out a rhythm through gold covered fingers.  
The muscular figure shifted on the couch trying to reach the pack of smokes in his back pocket. He stayed lent to one side for a moment, feeling around in his pocket and listening to the now hushed voices extruding from the kitchen opposite, before realising that he had moved the pack into his coat pocket earlier. With this he leant forwards turning his head to smile at the people in the kitchen, his white teeth sharply contrasting his deep red beard. He stayed seated for a while, having pulled his rizzlers and tobacco from his pocket, his hands firmly placed on his knees.

"Being social, here goes." With a push he stood up, brushing down his t-shirt and picking up his coat, flinging it over his shoulder and making his way into the kitchen.  
He tried to slip past the taller lad in the doorway but bumped into him slightly anyway. He didn't apologise, if the other lad had any manners he would have moved out the doorway.  
"Excuse me". The lad shifted where he stood, facing Gimli now.  
"You're alright lad." He looked around the faces in the room, making eye contact with them all before focusing on the one that was shrunken into himself. "Hou's aw wiye? I'm Gimli, from upstairs." He paused and clocked the tall lad, who was still looking at him.  
"Oh," The dark haired lad, who was acting timidly, fidgeted where he stood.  
"You're one hell of a guy." One of the other shorter boys launched forwards, hitting Gimli's arm gently. "Rock hard, and I bet you weren't even flexing. Amazing!"  
The third student in the room, quiet but calming, pulled the sandy one back by the shoulder and smiled at Gimli. "I'm Merry, this here's Pippin and his cousin Frodo," he nodded to the short dark haired boy. "He's from downstairs, this stairs, this floor. Me and Pip live off campus though," Merry extended his hand unheeded by Gimli's somewhat intimidating appearance.  
Gimli firmly shook the hand he was given. "Nice to get your name Merry. Be good to be having yours too…" He sharply turns to face the lad in the corner, the taller one.  
His face was hardened, but a slight smile was there. "Boromir." He pushed his hand out and grabbed hold of Gimli's hand for one firm shake before letting go and taking a step back.  
"Good," Gimli shot Boromir an uneasy look before nodding to the door and holding out his tobacco. "Anyone joining me for a smoke?"  
"What are you smoking?" Pippin moved forwards, looking intently at the pack in Gimli's hand.  
"Baccy?" Gimli pulled back his tobacco, moving towards the door.  
Pippin smiled and took hold of Merrys arm. "Sure we'll join ya, feel myself coming down anyways."  
"Yeah we'll go see Sam." Merry smiled and looked to Frodo, gently nodding his head to the door.  
Gimli turned to leave, the three younger students turning to follow him out, leaving Boromir alone for just a moment before he turned to follow them as well, only to need to stop just into the hallway.

All five of the students stood in the hall as the stairs protested the lad walking down them. His hair deep brown and long and messy. He descended slowly and looked as though he wanted to turn around to avoid all those watching him from hall, but he seemed determined, as if to go on a mission.  
"You up for a smoke lad?" Gimli smiled up at the boy.  
From behind Gimli, Merry spoke up again. "Merry, Pippin, Frodo." He turned to look at the queue behind him. "Oh, and Boromir."  
The lad on the stairs nodded and moved down a few steps. "Aragorn and a smoke sounds good about now."

* * *

Sweet and sharp the flowers blossom under the bold sun, heating the air. What looks like burnt edges on delicate petals only bring more zooming bees to extract their delicious pollen before scooting off to further enhance and preserve the bountiful budding ambiance of Cambridge.  
Tiny creatures working through the soil , over mountainous rocks and deep trenches, roots obscuring their path, until finally they reach their goal and rest their legs. What a wonder it is to watch these things when you see as Samwise does. He laid out on the grass watching as the natural world there accepted his newly planted herbs.  
"Samwise!" A familiar voice from behind jolted Sam out of his small world and back into the reality of humans.  
"Pip?!" He rolled over and propped himself up, only to be pushed back down as Pippin hurled himself onto of him. "I didn't know you'd come to visit so soon." Sam pushed Pippin off him, freeing himself to stand. "Only just had time to plant my 'erbs out in the nice sun." Treading carefully around the daisies growing sporadically in the grass, Sam picked his way over to Merry who he embraced quickly before pulling back. "Out enjoying the sun?"  
"'Ello there chums. I'nt these flowers loverly." Merry pushed his chest out and squared his shoulders, pretending to be Sam.  
"Eh, very funny as always." Sam swung his hand at Merry's head, but missing he instead he moved over to Frodo's side.  
"Sam." Frodo smiled at Sam and then looked at the three men who had lit up cigarettes. "This is Boromir, Gimli and Aragorn, they live upstairs." He spoke in a low voice.  
Sam gently bumped his shoulder in Frodo's. "'Ello, I'm Samwise Gangee." He held his hand out and shook each of their hands tentively before standing and swaying up onto his toes and falling back onto the balls of his feet a few times. "How 'bout when you've finished smoking I go an' make us all some lunch. Some nice Spanish omelettes I think."  
"Sounds alright to me Sam." Gimli breathed out a ploom of smoke before snubbing out the butt of his cigarette on the wall. He swung back into the house.  
Merry and Pippin quit their play on the grass and went to join Gimli in the house. Frodo pulled Sam's arm and they two left the path of sun to enter the kitchen.  
Slowly Aragorn, the Boromir, snubbed their cigarettes out on the wall to join the rest for lunch.

Sam quietly whisked eggs, with Frodo close to his side as Merry and Pippin spoke excitedly to Boromir and Gimli. The sound of voices filling a kitchen made Sam smile as he thought of home and summers spend growing food, waiting for the perfect moment to harvest it to cook for a beautiful feast.  
The door slammed though the hallway, sending a breeze through the house.  
A blonde person came into view, facing away, looking into the living room. Their long hair, at least waist length, was beautifully braided to cage the loose locks of hair that hung straight down their back.  
Aragorn, who had been sitting quietly on a counter, suddenly sprang to his feet and excitedly moved towards the stranger in the living room. He moved swiftly and quietly, stopping just behind the blonde figure before flinging his arms wide around the person, encasing their waist with his arms as he gently pulled their bodies together to read his head on the new persons shoulders, obviously taking a deeps breath in, a sigh of relief. The blonde relaxing their slightly smaller body into the hug.

"Hello Aragorn." A musical, soft voice drifted into the kitchen.  
Heads turned in confusion.  
"Is that a bloke?" Pippin muttered, turning to get confirmation from Merry.  
The blondes head turned slightly looking into Aragorn's eyes. "Five seconds Aragorn. Five fucking seconds. I swear if you put them up to this."  
"You'll tell your father?" The blonde's voice peaked up as if he was smiling.  
"Do you want me to tell Father because I'm pretty sure I can get him over here if you want…"  
"No, I'm good." His voice thinned and started to shake, as he hid his head deeper into the blonde's shoulder.  
Gimli turned to look at Pippin. "I'm not entirely sure lad, but we can be sure about one thing. Aragorn is defiantly whipped."  
A laugh forced its way out of Boromir's lips as Pippin turned to Aragorn. "Aragorn is that your boyfriend or your girlfriend because no guy should have hair that pretty but his voice is a little masculine for a girl..?"  
"You deal with this. I spent far too long travelling and dealing with my brothers to deal with this." The blonde forced the words out as he pushed out of Aragorn's arms. Glaring at Pippin. For the first time the blondes face was visible to them all and as one the people inside the kitchen all had the same thought running through their heads; 'Shit, they're really, really beautiful.' Pale skin framed with blonde hair, and high cheekbones, prussian blue eyes framed by long thick lashes glanced over the group. They're eyes though showing exasperation held no true malice as the blonde silently took his two bags upstairs, Aragorn turned to face the rest of the group.  
"To answer your question Pippin, he is neither my boyfriend nor my girlfriend but he is our other flat mate. If you haven't quite got it yet, he's a guy."  
Pippin's stare intensified. "Are you sure about that Aragorn because no way should a guy be that beautiful."  
"The lad had a point." Gimli's voice added.  
"So who was that exactly?" Frodo's voice filled the silence of the kitchen.  
"Oh that was Legolas, he's a bit of a drama queen." Aragorn's eyes still didn't leave the place where Legolas was last standing.  
"Because that wasn't obvious at all lad." Gimli blandly stated. "So why don't you get princess down here and we can meet him properly."  
"Legolas are you going to some down and eat with us?" Aragorn called.  
"I'm going to sleep off the jet lag" Legolas' voice came drifting daintily down the stairs and into the kitchen.  
"Do you want me to bring in the rest of your stuff then?"  
A key came flying down the stairs to hit Aragorn in the head. "The fuck Legolas? I already have a key to your car."  
"Father got me a new car."  
"Okay, do I get a hint at all?"  
"It's blue."  
"Helpful as always." He turned towards the door annoyance was seeping out of his pours.  
"Wait up lad." Gimli grabbed his jacket. "I might as well help you with the princess' stuff."

"Yes… More food." Pippin grabbed the plate Sam had placed in front of him.  
"No snatching Pippin. Remember Gimli and Aragorn will want food when they get back from helping Legolas." Sam glared at him.  
"But why can't Legolas do it himself?"  
"He said that he was going to sleep off the jet lag Pip." Merry said in between bites of food.  
"I wonder where he came from." Frodo thought out loud.  
"Not from America, we know that at least." Sam answered. "Maybe the continent?"  
Pippins hand reached over to grab the food from Gimli's untouched plate, taking the food when Sam's back was turned away to make sure that Frodo was eating. Merry, seeing Pippin grabbing extra food , sneaked the last plate of food onto his own. Pippin sent a glare over to Merry.  
Boromir stared from the corner of his eye, gazing over the four smaller men. Bickering filing his ears as he wondered what life was going to be like living with these odd people. 'Are they really that in love with food or is it a side effect of being high?' Boromir shifted, pushing his sleeves up before pulling the fabric back down to rest.  
"Food is important no matter that state of height. It sustains and fulfils life's purposes." Pippin stood forwards, arms out as if to preach the wonders of stolen food. He continued to prattle on, throwing terms of endearment around with each new though and food.  
"Across the kitchen Sam glanced sideways to a static Frodo, his arms folded across himself as if to cage himself off from his deranged cousin's ramblings and declarations of love for fried foods. Sam jolted his elbow softly into Frodo's arm, leaving contact for a seconds against his slightly too warm arm.  
Timidly, Frodo turned to nod at Sam and smiled. "I'm okay." He almost mouthed the words, a small sound making its way from Frodo but it was drowned by Pippins tidal wave.  
Content, Sam turned back to the loud member in the kitchen. "And so how do my omelettes live up to your vast knowledge of foods? " He asked rhetorically.  
"Heavy on the tomato, great seasoning mind you." Pippin ate another piece from Gimli's abandoned plate.  
"I thought it was pretty damn good Sam. You'll be doing all the cooking I suppose?" Boromir flashed a grin.  
"Only if you clean it all up Mister." Sam eyed the plates scattering the table and the frying pan in the sink.  
Boromir's grin fell. "Second thoughts, I think I can live off my own cooking…"

A bang came rushing down from the hallway along with the sound of two paired of shuffling feet.  
" Just leave the bags here, I'll take them up in a minuet." Aragorn's voice was a mix of awe, shock and anger. He stepped into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge and taking out a cider, a dark cloud following his into the corner.  
Gimli followed behind him, eyes wide and confused as he stared at Aragorn, impatiently waiting for the penny to drop. Pulling a face at Aragorn his eyebrow raised, he said "So are you going to offer me one too laddie?"  
Aragorn nodded his head towards the fridge and Gimli took out a cider while Boromir stared at him and voiced his thoughts. "What happened to you two?"  
"Wait for it laddie, I think you can get what's going on when Aragorn starts on the princess upstairs."  
Boromir's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose.  
All eyes turned to face Aragorn, who was sipping at the last of his drink. Placing it down on the counter he stepped out into the hallway. "Legolas, when were you going to tell me that you have that, that fucking car!?"  
"Aragorn, why are you yelling at me over a car?" Legolas stepped out onto the landing in a cotton robe.  
"First it's fucking impractical. How the fuck are you meant to do anything in it?"  
"Well I'll hire more cars."  
"Gimli turned towards the door. "But the car lad…"  
"What's wrong with my car dwarf?"  
"Well the fact that you had to push through a group of people to even see that god damn car…"  
"It's a very sexy car. They should be damn appreciative of that car."  
Aragorn stared up at the blonde boy. "Do you really have no idea why people were staring at your car?! I swear if you say it's because it's sexy I will liberate your car…"  
"I thought you could only liberate ships."  
"Does it look like I care?"  
"I'm not sure… Isn't that your usual expression?"  
"I'm gonna smack you and I don't think anyone here is gonna stop me. Furthermore, how the fuck could you destroy your old car?"  
"What do you mean destroy?" His voice was softer as a more questioning tone slipped past his lips. "Father got me a new car for living here. Admittedly he bought it back when he thought I was studying back home. But my car is still there. Is that really what happens to your car? Do they really destroy cars when you get a new one?"  
Aragorn's face shifted slightly, a fond bewildered expression painted itself across Legolas'. As he rolled his eyes he picked up the bags and carried them upstairs. Legolas' worried eyes followed him up the stairs.

Frodo was sunk into the corner of the kitchen, listening to the commotion in the hallway while his friends jabbered on about how exciting it was to be at university together and how disastrous it was going to be.  
There was clunking heading up the stairs followed by an exasperated rage and Gimli bursting into the kitchen. His face was hardened and his mouth was gaping open in shock. His skin nearly matched his hair.  
"Alright Gimli?" Merry spoke up, silencing the ever vocal Pippin.  
"That car…" He forced that words out as if they were clawing to stay inside.  
"What car?" Pippin joined in.  
"We had to fight our way to it. Literally. People were everywhere, it was completely surrounded…" He trailed off in a frantic manner and moved around the kitchen in search of his food.  
"You just went to a car, not war." Frodo spoke up, annoyed at the pointless exploitation of war talk.  
"Lad, you didn't see what's out there." He moved to eye up the empty plates on the table.  
"What could be so special about a car?" Frodo spoke half to himself. Not being a particular fan of motorised vehicles, he had never had much time or patience for cars. They were all the same, all dangerous.  
"Bluer than the skies lad. Smoother than silk and water and ice. Shimmering with sun kissing its soft body." He extended his words to make them more flowy and suspenseful.  
Boromir snapped up. "Are we talking about a car or a woman?" A slight smile hinted on Boromir's lips as he looked to the now giggling Merry and Pippin.  
"'Course I'm on about the car. Sleek body, panelling of perfection, so beautiful." His eyes drifted off as though he were in another world. "The Disco Volante, how can ye neh worship it?" He snapped back to the real world.  
"The Disco Volante! No one has that car. There's only eight of them in the world!" Boromir burst out.  
"That's only the touring." Gimli retorted.  
"Is it a touring?"  
"Yes."  
"How does he have that car!?" Boromir almost shouted.  
"Beats me…" Gimli and Boromir looked at each other in shock.  
Sam, who had been making another omelette slid the dish out of the pan onto another plate for Gimli. "Who even is he? If it's such a rare car he must have a whole load of money tucked away somewhere…" He nervously looked to each of the men in the room, no one quite sure of the answer.  
"Want me to ask? I'll just pop up ..." Pippin started to lift himself from his chair but Merry grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.  
"Maybe we should leave them two up there alone for a bit lad." Gimli spoke around a mouthful of food.  
"And perhaps you've made enough of an impression for one day Pip." Merry smiled easily at his friend.  
There was a general sound of agreement that washed through the room.


End file.
